


The Note

by grumpyphoenix



Series: Brain Salad [16]
Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Not Beta Read, Post-Episode: s03e13 The Wrath of the Lamb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-27
Updated: 2018-08-27
Packaged: 2019-07-03 05:25:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15812298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grumpyphoenix/pseuds/grumpyphoenix
Summary: Freddie Lounds gets a text with an address after Hannibal escapes.





	The Note

**Author's Note:**

> No prompt, just a 2am re-watch of Hannibal.

The text only gave Freddie a moment of pause. It was only an address, but she’d had enough of these while reporting on the Ripper to know who’d sent it. Plus, Hannibal had escaped, and Will was missing. There was a millisecond of thought given to the state he’d have left Graham, but her fingers itch to use the new camera, and she still loves making Jack dance on the edge of a heart attack.

Of course, it isn’t Will, dead on the ground.

She uploads the pictures immediately, pleased with the quality. Even though it was barely light out by the time she’d crept up the driveway and out onto the patio, she was able to get a beautiful shot of the Red Dragon, spread out for her like her own private art show. As she considers and discards the opportunity to run from this, Freddie pours herself a glass of wine and waits for the hit count to go up before she calls the FBI. Lecter had left her a beautiful bottle with a fruit and cheese plate, and a note with detailed instructions.

Not having a death wish, she complies to the letter. She could still feel his attention on her, eyes like a shark. Being aware of your death as a gift between two murderers gives a lot of perspective to everything. If Hannibal tells her how to word her article, she’s going to do it exactly like that. And anyway, he has a wonderful flair for the dramatic.

Jack is displeased as predicted, but there’s not much he can do. They take her camera, her phone and her laptop over her angry objections. She’s threatened with jail, and Jack personally walks her back to her car, his grip unforgivingly hard. She waits until her car is in drive before rolling down the window and passing the note out to him.

“This is for you, Jack. It’s from Will. I got one too, but it wasn’t from the sweeter of the psychopaths. For what it’s worth, I think you should be careful. If he wasn’t unhinged before, he is now.”

As she drives off, Jack is forced to move back quickly if he’s to save his foot from being run over. He can hear the hard throb of his heart in his ears, and he considers sending a car after her and detaining her, but ultimately there’s no point.

She’s already opened it and read it, of course, so stopping to put on gloves is almost futile, but he does it anyway. It gives him time to try to calm down, because he desperately wants to hit someone.

The note  is stupidly helpful. He can practically hear Will’s voice as he reads it, and the advice to see a therapist is… _fuck_ , it’s hilarious, and Will knew it when he wrote it. The rest of the damned thing is an exercise in juggling cognitive dissonance. Delivered in his wry, self deprecating manner, he sounds sane, but what he says just isn’t.

Jimmy comes up next to him as he’s staring off into the ocean. “Not gonna jump, are you?”

Jack snorts. “Some would say I already did it when I went to Italy.”

He smirks. “Well, no one can say you’re not dedicated. What’s in the note?”

Jack turns one glove inside out to pass it over. “He’s in love.”

Jimmy shakes his head. “We already knew that.” There’s a pause, and he stares at Jack. “Tell me you already knew that when you agreed to let Will use him as bait…”

Jack’s pursed lips and silence make him roll his eyes. As he turns, he claps Jack on the shoulder. “Give another thought to that leap. The ocean will be kinder than Prurnell”

The rising sun is bright on the crests of the waves.


End file.
